Device for removing dust from grain elevators



s t. 16, 1924. I 1,508,682

I R. L. DOWDALJ.

DEVICE FOR REMOVING DUST FROM GRAIN ELEVATORS Filed Sent. 15 1923 2 shuts-Shut 1 Imfenifi'r- Li zzi, Hit/0055: fig J70 wda R. L. DOWDALL DEVICE FOR REMOVING DUST FROM GRAIN ELEVATORS Filed Sent. 15 1923 2 Shuts-Shoat 2 ,-Iwa7 1 fay L. 170$ ll,

' may be obviated.

Patented p 16, 1924.

T if, a

ROY DOWDALL, 0F OBERLIN,

ATENT Mme;

KANSAS;ASSIGNOROEONE HALE1T0 o. o. PALMER, or u oonoonnm, KANSAS. 5; I

:onvron non nnrrovmenusr riaom GRAIN ELEVATORS;

Application filed September 192s. Seriali No. 662,828.

rating out and discharging dust from light particles of grain that are abstracted from.

the main body of grain passing through the elevator by the suction of thedust abstract ing device. ,7 p

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon a device for the same general purposes 'formingthe 'subjectunatter of an earlier application filed by me on the 25th day of January, 1923. Serial No. 614,736; and the principal objects sought by the present improvements'are;' toprofl vide a device that will morethoroughly and efficiently free the elevator pit, leg and head from dust; to provide a device wherein the suction draft on the grain discharged by the elevator may be nicely regulated according to the character and weight of the grain handled; to provide. a device in which the entire suction draft may be made effective on and divided between the head and leg sections of the elevatorin relative strengths desired; and 1 r i device, including a' receptacle for light:

grain carried 'over by the suction de/vice, whereby any residuum of 'dust and Chat? still remain ng 111 such light grain may be drawn off and returned'to anddischarged with the main body of dust, and whereby also the necessity of a valve or gate at the discharge end of such collecting chamber Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will be understood by persons skilled in the art fronrthefollowing detailed description, taken in connection} with the accompanying drawings inwhich I have illustrated apractical embodiment of the invention which in service has been found to satisfactorily"effectuate the stated i purposes and objects thereof and -wherein' Fig. 1 is a View partly in vertical section and partlyin side elevation of, the

head and upper portion of theleg of a grain elevator, showing my present improvem'ents applied thereto;

Fig. Sis a horiz ontal section on the line 3+3 of Fig. 1;

and frontvertical passageways of the leg in which travel respectively the ascending and descendin'g limbsfof the usual endless bucket conveyor 14 running over a pulley 15 mountedin, the head 11, by which conveyor the grain is elevated from the pit to the head and'discharged in'the'latten' j u i the head 11 and on the delivery 7 side of the bucket elevator is looated'th'e' usual discharge hopper 16, the; lower end of which communicates with aninclined swiveleddelivery: spout l7 thatinay be revolved on the axis of the hopper so asto communicate with; any one of the usual seriesof distribution spouts, One of which i I On and communicatingv with the delivery side of the head 11 is a is shown at 18 pipe 19, herein shown as of rectangular crossesection, wh1ch,at 1ts outer end, comm-unicateswith the suction side, of a rotary high speed fan 20 driven by any suitable means such as "a direct connected electric motor 21 indicated in Fig. 2 I The casing offthe fan 20 has tangential [discharge pipe 22 which "opens directlyfinto alight grain trap23 and also communicates vfreely on its upper side with a dust discharge pipe "or conduit 24 overlying the trap 23. The

trap 23 and dust discharge pipe 24 are avider than the fan discharge pipe'22, and,

as bestshown infFig. 3, the wall of the trap whichalso formsa part of the inner wall of the dust pipe is formed with an opening 24 of the same cross-section as,

and registering with, I the fan discharge pipe22; the vertical edges of said opening being preferably fianked by inclined guides 'EZ Ptodirect all of the grain carried over with the fan discharge into the trap. The

trap/23 is also provided witha pair'of internal louvers25 so disposed as to form at their lower ends a narrow'gravity flow I I passage 26 into thefllower portion of the trap the space above the louvers constituting a dead air chamber27, The'lower por tionfofthe trap, below theilouv'ers 25, constitutes a receptacle 2 8 for light i defec- F'g'. 2s a top plan view of the same; and

Referring to thegdrawing, 10: designates as an entirety the vertical elevator leg, 11 the head thereof, and 12 and 18 the'rear be blown out with the dust and fine chaflI' tion to the opening 33.

' tively through the discharge passage 24; and the lower contracted end of this chamber communicates freely with the upper end of a pipe 29 through which the collected light grain is gradually discharged sufiiciently slowly to maintainrthe lower end of the chamber 28 always sealed and thus prevent any circulation of air from the outside into and through the chambers 28 and27.

In the sides of the chambers 27 and 28 are formed hand holes 30.and 31 respecequipped with suitable covers, through which hand holes access may be had to remedy any clogging of the grain that may occur at the bottom of either chamber.

On the inner side of the vertical wall of the head 11 to which the suction pipe 19is connected and opposite the inner end of said pipe is an inclined grain spreader 32 extending down into the discharge hopper 16, by which the grain, as it is discharged from the buckets of the conveyor, is spread directly across the path of the air current.

In the'top'wall of the suction conduit 19 is formed an opening 33 above which is mounted a tapered hood or cover 3 1; the upper end of this cover communicating directly with'one end of an inclined branch suction pipe 35 that extends across one side of the head 11 and, at its other end, communicates directly with an inclined branch 36 on the remote ascending conduit 12 of the conveyor leg. The upper wall of the branch 36 is herein shown as equipped with a hinged door 37 which may be opened for the purpose of facilitating the cleaning of the pipe and branch 36 when necessary.

Within the suction conduit119 and hinged coincidentally with one transverse edge of the opening 33 is a swinging valve 88, to

the free edge of which is pivoted an operating rod 89 extending upwardly through the wall ofthe conduit and terminating at its upper end in a bent :end 40 which may be engaged with any of a series of vertically spaced holes 41 formed in a post 42 mounted on the conduit so as to maintain said valve at a variety of points intermediate fully opened and fully closed position with-rela- With the valve in thepartly opened position shown in Fig. 1, the suction draft is manifestly divided, acting partly through the discharge hopper 16, head 11, and the front conduit 13 of the elevator leg and part- Ilv through the pipe 85, branch pipe 36, and

rear .conduit 12 of the elevator leg; the suction through both ways, of course, being I connected to the pit (not shown).

By reason of the described construction 7 the-entire suction eflect of the fan is always applied'to the elevator head, leg and pit,

without any leakage from the outside where the joints are properly sealed; and, by varying the position of the valve 88, the suction may be increased or decreased througheither branch of the divided suction conduit, as desired. Where a heavy grain like wheat is handled, thevalve is so adjusted as to create a fairly strong suction across the grain falling from the spreader 32, and when a light grain like cats is handled, the valve is set to cause amuch lighter suction. at that point. But whatever may be the adjustment for the weight and character of the particular grain handled, the entire suction is always effectivefor freeing the pit, leg and head from dust.

The abstracted dust, together with light and defective particles of grain (which are too valuable to be thrown away with the dust) and chaff are blown through the discharge pipe 22. The grain and coarse chaff, being heavier than the dust, pass directly into and settle in the upper chamber 27 of the trap, while most' of the dust and fine chaff being lighter, flows upwardly and out through the dust discharge fine 21; the discharge of' the fan creating suflicient pressure within the chamber 27 to thus force the dust and line chaff to rise and flow out through the fine 24. The recovered grain flows slowly through thenarr'ow opening .26 into the grain collecting chamber 28, constantly maintaining a grain sea-lat the flow passage 26. From the chamber 28 the grain, freed for the most part from the dust, flows gradually through the discharge pipe 29, to any desired point of delivery. 7 f

43 is a relatively small pipe that connects the upper end of the chamber 28 with the suction side of the fanthrough the elbow'of the suction pipe 19. The purpose of this pipe is two fold. In the first place, it serves to return to the fan andthe main body of dust any small residue of dust and chaff that may find its way with the grain through the chamber 27 and into the collection chamber 28; and, in the second place, it creates a slight vacuum in the chamber 28 which aids the flow into the latter of the grain fromjth'e chamber 27 and also sufliciently retards the outflow of the grain through the discharge piper29 to maintain a constant grain seal in the lower end of the chamber 28,.andlobviates by creating a draft through the leg keeps the bearings of the conveyor clean and prevents hot boxes and dust explosions. Incidentally also itfnot' only cleans the whole grain, but it saves and collects the light and defective grain which is valuable as stock and chicken feed, and throws away only the valueless dust and chaff.

Manifestly the specific form and details of structure and arrangement may be variously modified without departing from the prins ciple of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages inherent therein, and hence I reserve all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit and purview of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a leg of a grain elevator, of a suction fan, a pair of suction pipes both communicating at one end with the suction side of said fan and at their other ends with said leg, and a single manually operable valve operative to direct the suction wholly through either of said pipes or to divide it in varying relative strengths between them.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the leg and head of a grain elevator, of a suction fan, a main suction pipe connected at one end into said head and at its other end to the suction side of said fan, a branch suction pipe connected at one end into said leg and at its other end into said main suction pipe, and a single valve at the junction of said pipes serving to regulate the relative strengths of the suctions therein.

In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the leg and head of a grain elevator, of a suction fan, a main suction pipe connected at one end into the side of said head nearest to said fan and at its other end to the suction side of said tan, a branch suction pipe connected at one end into the side of said leg remote from said fun and at its other end into said main suction pipe, and a valve at the junction of said pipes serving to regulate the relative strengths of the suctions therein.

at. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a leg and head of a grain elevator, of a suction fan, a main suction pipe connected at one end into the side of said head nearest to said fan'and at its other end to the suction side of said fan, a branch suction pipe connected at one end into the side of said leg remote from said fan and at its other end into said main suction pipe, a hinged valve at the junction of said pipes, and means for regulating said valve so as to more or less open or throttle one of said pipes and simultaneously correspondingly throttle or open the other.

5. In an apparatus of the character dea valve at the junction of said pipes, and

means for regulating said valve so as to vary the strength of the suction exerted through said main suction pipe upon the grain falling from said spreader board, according to the character of the grain handled.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a grain elevator leg, of a suction fan, a suction pipe communicating at one end with said leg and at its other end with the suction side of said fan, a discharge pipe for said fan, a trap for collecting light grain and chaff carried over by said fan discharge pipe, a discharge pipe for dust communicating with said tra and a return suction pipe connecting sald trap With the suction side of said fan.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a grain elevator leg, of a suction fan, a suction pipe communicating at one end with said leg and at its other end with the suction side of said fan, a discharge pipe for said fan, a trap for collecting light grain and chaff communicating directly with the delivery end of said fan discharge pipe, a dust discharge pipe connected into the top of said fan discharge pipe, and a return suction pipe connectingsaid trap with the suction side of said fan. I p

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with the leg of a grain elevator, of a suction fan, a suction pipe communicating at one end with said leg and atits otherend connected into the suction side of said fan, a discharge pipe for said fan, a trap for collecting light grain and chafl' communicating directly with the delivery end ofsaid fan discharge pipe, a dust discharge pipe connected into the top of said fan. discharge pipe adjacent to said trap and extending above the latter, a return suction pipe connecting said trap with said first-named suction pipe, and a delivery pipe in open communication with the lower end of said trap. I p

ROY L. DOWDALL. 

